Welcome

Biology has become an information science with close ties to Computer Science. Large databases and sophisticated algorithms are now essential tools for biologists seeking to understand complex biological systems, determine the functions of biological molecules, or reconstruct the course of evolution.

Within the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, we collaborate with biologists on a wide range of computational problems that will ultimately enable us to understand complex biological systems.

The programmable and reliable hybridization of DNA strands has enabled the preparation of a wide variety of structures. This Review discusses how, in addition to these static assemblies, the process of displacing — and ultimately replacing — strands also makes possible the construction of dynamic systems such as logic gates and autonomous walkers.